It Must Be a Cute Thing
by Darkling Wolf
Summary: This is pretty much For You in Full Blossom from Kadoma's point of view. Who knew that Kadoma would have just as many adventures as Mizuki? You know, it must be a cute thing.
1. Late, Of Course

**It Must Be a Cute Thing**

I do not own any Hana-Kimi characters, only my own. Enjoy.

Late, Of Course

Kadoma dropped his luggage in a large pile at his feet. Slightly panting he sat down hard on his heavy trunk. He glanced around before rescaning the map he had been given at first year's orientation. 'Dorm one, dorm one, dorm one..." He scratched his head, looking up with confusion on his cute face, 'where is it?'

"Lost?" Came a deep voice from behind.

Startled, Kadoma jumped up and whipped around to see-- a t-shirt. Then he looked up, and a very tall upper-classman with piercing grey eyes was looking down at him. A shiver went down Kadoma's back and he tumbled backward over his trunk.

"Uhh, umm do you," realizing his voice was coming out in a girlish squeak, Kadoma made a show of coughing then cleared his throat deepening his voice to a more manly tone, "do you know where dorm three is?" For a split second, Kadoma thought that he saw the upper-classman's eyes crinkle in bemusement, but then before he knew it, the guy had already saddled Kadoma's heaviest duffle over one shoulder and was walking in the opposite direction. Quickly darting to his feet, Kadoma gathered up his backpack and grabbed the handle to his trunk, trying to catch up to the impossible pace the upper-classman's long legs were making.

Before he knew it, they had arrived at a stout building. Kadoma didn't even have time to contemplate feelings of anticipation about his new home, before the doors were thrown open and he caught the first impression of his new home. The upper-classman stepped in and to the side, letting a powerful wave of stench buffet Kadoma's poor little body. As he staggered, a crinkle returned to the corner of his guide's eyes. After taking a glance around Kadoma's heart filled with dread. Everyone was huge, tough, and macho looking.

"Hey! Kujou! No girls allowed you know that," some shirtless guys lounging on a beat up counch guffawed like they had said something clever. A little pink came to Kadoma's cheeks. Hadn't he left home just to get away from this kind of atmosphere? All of his older brothers were huge, buff, masculine, and total jerks who pointed out how small and girly Kadoma was at every turn. He thought that by coming to an all boys school, his emotional scars would heal. Must not have thought that one through too well.

Kujou spoke, "First year rooms upstairs." Kadoma gave him a tenetive smile, "Thanks. I'm Kadoma, by the way." Kujou nodded his head slightly instead of offering his own name. With that, Kadoma grabbed all his things, and as best as he could, akwardly began making his way up the staircase. No one offered to help him this time.

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Kadoma looked up when he heard a knock at the door. At first he thought it was his roommate Umachi, but then thought better of it. From what he had observed so far, Umachi was a very discreet, sullen boy who would be more likely to slide into a room without knocking than to knock and draw attention to the fact that he was there. Kadoma was a little put out that Umachi didn't seem to want to have any kind of a friendship, but then again he didn't riddicule Kadoma's stature either, so Kadoma was content with that.

The door opened and standing there, taking up nearly the entire frame of the door was another impossibly huge upper-classman. His black buzz cut hair bristled as his thick brows knit together. "You Kadoma?" He said in a gruff voice.

Kadoma nodded. The upper-classman's eyes narrowed as he inspected Kadoma.

"You're late." Kadoma didn't quite know what to make of this guy, so he tried giving the best answer he could. "I was separated from the group and got lost. Sorry."

"Well get up! I've got to give you a tour of the dorm before dinner and I'm starving!" Slightly taken aback by the shouting, Kadoma leaped to his feet and rushed to follow the already retreating upper-classman.

"I'm your dorm leader Tennouji. The tatami matts in the rooms are to be kept clean, so don't spill anything unless you want to spend a sunday getting it off the underside of the tatami. Showers are over here, and can be used from five in the morning untill eleven o' clock. There's a t.v. in the common room, and those halls lead to the third year rooms. Up on your hall are all first and second year double rooms." Without warning, Tennouji's hand shot out and grabbed the top of Kadoma's head twisting it so that he could study his face. Kadoma's big eyes grew wide with confusion, and at that, a competitive grin crossed Tennouji's face. "Oh yeah, were a shoe-in for Miss Osaka..." Tennouji muttered before letting go of Kadoma's head. Before he could say anything, Tennouji cut him off by saying, "and here is the dinning hall."

Kadoma sighed internally, giving up trying to say anything to the over-bearing upper-classman. As he began walking away, he felt a heavy hand fall on his shoulder. He turned around. It seemed like Tennouji had one more thing to say.

"If I were you, I'd find some sport to join. Our dorm is athletic-dominant, and if you want to fit it, it's best to join something." Seeing the doubtful look on Kadoma's face, he added, "You don't have to be good. Just a member." And with that, Tennouji walked off into dinner line without a parting word.

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Kadoma walked out of the line with a relitavely small amount of food on his plate. He'd always been a light eater because of his size, but was used to the enormous portions boy's his brother's size tended to consume. Holding his tray and scanning the room for a place to eat, he thought it was an interesting first day, and didn't quite know what to make of it. Although, he didn't know what he had been expecting in the first place either. It was pretty much like most first impressions of something you anticipate are; dissapointing compared to the original expectation, but not as horrible as a cliche' novel.

There were ups and downs he supposed. The upper-classmen he had met seemed like good people, even though his roomate wasn't the most desirable and he didn't like being back in an all-macho environment again. It smelled like home (although that was not a good thing either), and as long as the sexual harrasment was kept down to a minimum, Kadoma supposed this would be an okay place to live.

He kept glancing about, trying to find familiar faces, even Umachi would have been better than sitting alone. The flurry of movment coming from the masses of boys, jostling eachother as they tried to see who could eat the fastest was intimidating when Kadoma realized he actually only knew the names of three people in the entire dorm. Slowly, wandering eyes began to casually train on him as he stood longer and longer, helpless, in front of the cash register. He could only guess what they were thinking. Heat coming into his cheeks from embarassment, Kadoma finally decided that eating in his room was the best option, and began moving, hoping to dislodge some of the funny glances he was getting.

Just as he was about to exit the dinning hall, he was suprised by a low voice evenly calling his name. He turned around, and there was Kujou with an empty seat across from him. Kadoma quickly hurried over and took the seat, pertrubed by the fact that the number of eyes glancing his way were growing even more numerous now.

"You should do Karate." Kujou said suddenly, as he studied Kadoma's reaction with those piercing grey eyes. The corners of his eyes crinkled in amusment at what he saw. Kadoma was completely taken aback and it was written clear as day across his face.

"Please don't joke."

Almost seeming offended at this comment, Kujou replied, "Karate isn't for the strengthening of the body, but for the mind. It is a discipline. By training the body, you discipline the mind and emotions to become stronger. It is for those with great will. Not great size." That was probably the most words Kadoma had ever heard heard Kujou say at one time, but he still felt a little unsure. No one, not even his own family, had ever believed Kadoma capable of anything involving coordination or physical activity.

"And you think _I_ could actually do it?" Kadoma asked tennatively. Kujou nodded his head sharply. Tennouji had said to join a sport, and the idea was beggining to grow on him. Maybe he could come home over christmas break and actually show his older brothers a thing or two... Kadoma was vaguely aware that he was now falling into dellusions, but that couldn't keep the hope from swimming into his big brown eyes. Seeing the soft dreamy look on his face, more than one of the onlookers couldn't help thinking to himself, 'cute kid.'

Finnally a smile broke out onto Kadoma's face and he looked Kujou straight in the eye and said, "I'll do it!"

Many nearby boys were amazed to see Kujou actually flash a small smile as he said, "Practice begins at three in the building behind this one tomorrow. We'll begin there."

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As always, the first chapter is boring, but please tell me what you think. I have several chapters already planned out and I'll get to writing them if I get reviews, so PLEASE REVIEW!!!


	2. Honor

**It Must Be a Cute Thing**

I do not own any Hana-Kimi characters. Enjoy.

Honor

Kadoma was lightly panting when he finally reached the dojo. A teacher had kept him behind in his last period English class to work on pronunciation, and that forced little Kadoma to have to sprint to the dojo so as to keep from being late. Milling around the closed doors were several first year boys, a few of whom Kadoma recognized. Quickly glancing about, Kadoma grew steadily uneasy. Every single boy was huge. He felt himself shrinking against the crowd. It was just like being back with his brothers. Kadoma was considering quietly leaving when he spotted not far away, another boy. Just his size.

"Hello!" Kadoma tapped the smaller boy on the shoulder a wide grin of relief on his small face.

Startled, the boy spun around, alarm flashing across his face.

"I'm Kadoma, what's your name?" As Kadoma waited expectantly for an answer, he studied the boy before him. He was a bit scrawny and only a few inches taller than Kadoma was. Pale, with squinty eyes behind thick glasses, it looked like the boy had not see much sun. His arms were tightly crossed in an insecure position across his chest and it looked like he was pretty tense.

Once the boy was able to focus in on Kadoma he relaxed slightly, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Akira." He said quietly in a soft musical voice.

"Oh...are you in Dorm One too?" Kadoma asked curious.

"No." Kadoma watched him expectantly. Noticing this, his gaze shifted to the side, "Dorm Three." he said quietly again.

"Really? I thought they were the artsy dorm. Did you not get the dorm you wanted?" Kadoma asked curiously.

Akira's eyes flew as wide open as the little squinty buggers could, making them look almost like normal eyes for a moment. "No--I mean, I wanted dorm three, it's just, well," Akira paused for a moment as if thinking of a simple way to explain what he meant to the (who he suspected was a) simple Kadoma. "I fit in with those people there, but I want something more, and I thought Karate would give it to me." He began shifting uncomfortably again.

Akira had correctly deduced the fact that Kadoma was indeed very simple, as he looked for no further explanation on the matter.

Then in a loud BANG, the light wooded dojo doors were thrown open. Kadoma inhaled sharply as a magnificent sight unfolded before him. Slowly marching out of the dark dojo in perfect rhythm, were several seccond and third years in crisp white uniforms. A few were carrying red linen banners with words like 'honor' and 'dedication' inscribed upon them. As they marched out, the fanned out to line up against the wall of the dojo in front of the still first years. Finnally out of the dark emerged two figures. Tennouji and Kujou. Kadoma jumped because as soon as the two came into view, all of the other members of the club shouted in a deafening chorus: "Osu!" and made a quick move in sync to shift stances, now holding their hands behind their backs, feet shoulder-width apart in an attentive stance. The only ones not moving were those bearing banners.

All of the sudden, Kadoma felt a wave of unease pass through him once again. He glanced at Akira and could tell that he was feeling the same way. Seeing the club members all lined up threw into sharp relief the fact that Kadoma was at least a head and a half shorter than any of the guys in the club. He gulped almost audibly but had made his decision.

"Akira." He wispered. "Lets do this together. I won't quit if you won't." Kadoma said trying to keep his voice steady. Akira looked slightly pale, "I'll hold you to that."

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Kujou took only a moment more to silently scan the crowd. Recruitment had gone well this year. He was pleased to see quite a few people he had spoken to personally. Half hidden in the back he saw a pair of heads at least a foot shorter than the rest. The corners of his eyes crinkled. _'Little Kadoma...Somehow I'm not suprised you came.' _His eyes glided to the left and narrowed. There was a group of boys he had observed rough housing in the dinning hall the other night. Being in the sport he was, Kujou was familiar with the type of boys those were. It would take a lot to beat some dignity and honor into those _boys. _They would definately have to be watched. As per usual, the crowd consisted of mainly dorm one residents and a small minority of dorm two and three boys. Kujou had high hopes for the group. _'Maybe even half of them will last the week.' _His eyes crinkled again.

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As Kujou began talking, Kadoma was spellbound by his words. He spoke of diligence, responsibility, and honor. The mere fact that he was stringing so many words together at once was enough to make many of the boys around him pay attention. Kujou spoke with a fire in him, heating his voice, blazing in his eyes. It was--inspiring. Wordlessly, a connection was made that afternoon. Kadoma had found himself a hero.

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Sooo, shorter than the last i know, but please, Please, PLEASE review!! i won't post another chapter unless there's another review!!!! (selfish i know, but i need some self-esteem boosting thank-you very much!)


	3. Holy Mother of a Cow

**For You In Full Bloom**

I do not own any Hana-Kimi characters. Only my own. Enjoy.

Holy Mother of a Cow.

Not even by the end of the first day, Akira was already regretting the pact he'd made with Kadoma. After the speech given by the upperclassman leaders Kujou and Tennouji, all the first years were filed in and measurements like height and weight were taken, and the dojo uniforms were handed out. It wasn't suprising that Kadoma and Akira were not only the shortest, but also created a new weight class the dojo hadn't had in years: 97 lbs. and below. Weight classes are used to ensure that opponents aren't mis-matched in tournaments. It wouldn't be fair to have the 181 lb. Kujou go against little 94 lb. Kadoma, so to keep tournament contestants as evenly paired as possible, the weight-class system was created. As a result of this, Kadoma and Akira were paired together as training partners, which suited the both of them fine considering the fact that any other member in the dojo would likely be twice as strong as they.

Once everyone was given the opportunity to change into their uniforms, the whole club was lead out to the track. What went on from there was a series of exhausting running exersizes and weight training, including pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, and any other kind of -ups you can think of. Needless to say, not only Akira and Kadoma, but several other of the first years were panting by the time they reached the cool inside of the dojo. From there, two boys notified Kujou that they quit.

Kadoma was shaking and panting like a dog. He had never worked so hard in his life. Although his body kept telling him to pause, sit down, call it quits, his brain was urging his feet on to its next test. _'On my honor, I will not give up. On my honor, I will not give up. I will not give up.' _Became a mantra little Kadoma would have ingrained in him by the end of the week.

It may not be immediately evident, but Kadoma was one of those boys who had the endurance of a horse and the stubborness of an ass. After having to put up with his brothers for so many years, he could hold out under just about anything.

"First years! This way!" Tennouji made a sharp move with his hand, beckoning them to opposite side of the dojo, away from the seccond and third years, although several of their eyes wandered over in that direction in anticipation.

"Form a circle, bigger- that's it, good!" Tennouji had a rough commanding voice, and when he spoke, people followed his orders without thought.

"Kujou!"

Kujou stepped forward into the circle and the two of them made quick, clean bows to eachother before they squared off in defensive stances. They stood motionless for a few moments, before Tennouji made a quick lunge, swinging a fist toward Kujou's shoulder while sweeping out with his leg, attempting to take out one of his knees. Kujou moved even faster than Tennouji though and doged the blow to his knee while catching the fist that came towards his shoulder. With a practiced grace, Kujou swung the fist he had caught around and yanked it up behind Tennouji's back. He was caught.

"The primary use of karate is self defence. Never use what you learn to attack anyone, especially those weaker than you. That holds no dignity." Kujou spoke as he released Tennouji. After he finished, the noise in the dojo rose a couple notches, those upperclassmen who had been watching the spectacle returned to their exersizes.

By the end of the day, after being shown the begginer's exersizes, Kadoma and Akira left the dojo feeling as weak as limp soba noodles.

"A-are you really going back tomorrow?" Akira asked shakily.

"Un!" Kadoma smiled. The practice was hard, and it only lasted two hours, but he felt at home there. It was a hard feeling to describe, but what Kujou had spoken about; honor, diligence, dignity, Kadoma wanted to be a part of that. He wanted to walk that path. It filled him with a warm fuzzy feeling. Glancing over at Akira though, he suddenly felt bad. Akira looked pale and exhausted and more than a little down cast.

"If you don't want to do this, I won't hold you to it." Akira looked at Kadoma then straitened, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose. "I'm a man of my word. I...I won't quit if you don't. I mean, what was all that honor stuff for anyways if I don't stick by it?" Akiras words were more confident than he felt, but his doubt was wiped away when he saw the wide smile on Kadoma's face.

"I'm glad you're staying!" And in truth he was. "Akira, thanks for being my first friend here!"

And in turn this made Akira smile too. From that day on their friendship was cemented.

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Kadoma ploped down onto his top bunk exhausted. He had tried not to show it in the dojo or to Akira, but he was wiped out.

"You smell like a horse."

Startled, Kadoma jumped and hit his head on the celing. "Holy Mother of a Cow! Umachi!! That scared me!" His eyes started to water as he rubbed the top of his head.

"Your stench scared me." Umachi mumbled, but Kadoma didn't hear.

"You should really let people know when your in the room like that." Kadoma whined, still getting over the fact that Umachi always seemed to appear out of no where.

All Umachi responded with was, "Shower or I won't be able to fall asleep tonight."

Kadoma pouted, but slid off his bed anyways. He had been too tired and achy and was planning on just showering in the morning, but it looks like plans changed. He gathered up his shower stuff and turned the knob to steaming hot. It actually felt really good. Several of Kadoma's aches slowly faded into only a dull throb that flared up when he moved. By the end of his shower he was thankful that Umachi had made him take it.

As he put on some clean clothes he noticed that Umachi had left for dinner while he was in the shower.

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Downstairs, the roar of feasting had begun. After he got out of the dinner line with his tray, Kadoma looked around for a place to sit. The problem was, other than upperclassman Kujou and Umachi, he hadn't spoken to anyone from his dorm yet, and neither one was in sight. Kadoma was starting to feel a little anxious when out of no where an arm swooped in and landed on his shoulders.

"Hey kid, why don't you come sit with us?" Kadoma looked up and saw it was one of the guys from the Karate practice this afternoon and immediately felt greatful. He nodded his head and was lead over to a table with two other guys already sitting at it.

"I'm Matsuki, you were at Karate today right?" Kadoma nodded again, this time out of neccesity because of the noodles filling his mouth. Kadoma was feeling a bit shy for some reason and didn't want to talk much. He just kept munching on his noodles. If Matsuki noticed, he didn't show it, because he kept on asking questions.

"So how do you think you did today?" This time Kadoma shrugged.

"You're in 97 lb. weight class right?" Kadoma inclined his head, his noodles were nearly finished.

"Isn't there another guy in there too, the squinty-eyed one?" There was a touch of malice in Matsuki's voice that made Kadoma very uncomfortable. He felt the need to escape, and so finished the last of his noodles in one big gulp.

"Are you actually going back tomorrow?"

"Yes." Kadoma picked up his empty bowl, and pushed his chair back, not wanting to be near these guys any longer. The two other boys had started sniggering at Matsuki's questions now.

Matsuki turned now to his two companions, "Hey, maybe we should take bets on how long him and squinty-eye will la-" His words were cut off by the weight of a tray being set on his head.

"That is not the way members of a dojo conduct themselves." Behind Matsuki stood Kujou, looking taller than ever. Although his voice was as calm, and even as always, his eyes had narrowed to almost a dangerous point. A frightening sight to many who now watched the spectacle.

Kujou took his tray and walked past Kadoma, slightly inclining his head as he walked by.

The talking in the room resumed to almost a feverd pitch. Kadoma snapped out of the daze he had been in and walked hurriedly over to the trash bin and then up to his room where Umachi was already loungeing on his bed.

"Wasn't that quite the production." He droned.

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Alright!! What do you think??? I really would like to hear some reviews!!

Thankyou to all of you who have already reviewed as well!! 'Cause remember, I heart Reviews!!!!!


	4. Who Like Sake?

**For You In Full Bloom**

I do not own any Hana-Kimi characters. Only my own. Enjoy.

Chapter 4

Kadoma never told Akira about what had transpired that night in the dorm one dinning hall. Half because he didn't want to discourage Akira, and the other half because he was a little embarrased himself. He hated that he could never stand up for himself. Someone always had to come to his rescue. Kadoma was grateful that Kujou had stepped in, but all the same, his whole life there had been someone to step in. When people in middle school bullied him, his huge brothers stepped in, when his brothers ganged up on him, his mom was there to stick up for him. After all these years, it had left Kadoma feeling very immasculine.

Now more than ever, Kadoma wanted to go through with Karate. He wanted to be strong. Wanted to champion himself, and maybe even be the one to stick up for someone else.

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Akira felt like instead of getting stronger, he was slowly getting weaker. He had survived to day three, but the toll on his body left his punches feeble. He envied the look of pointed concentration on Kadoma's little face, but all the same, his kicks and punches weren't even as strong as they were that first day. What is the use of doing this? Akira wasn't getting stronger, just the opposite. He really wished that Kadoma would just give up, so he could leave the dojo with a little snatch of dignity.

"Hey Kadoma. You still sure about this?"

"Yup. I won't give up!" Akira ducked his head in dissapointment. It was the same answer he'd heard at least twenty times over the past three days. Blocking punches, left, right, up, left, right, up, became very monotonous.

"Are you excited about the school festival?" Akira asked, hoping to pass the time quicker with idle chat.

"When's that?" Kadoma's concentrated face changed to a look of bland interest.

Imperceptably, the corner of Akira's eye twitched. He hated it when people answered a question with another question. "I dunno. I think preparation starts at the middle of next week, but I can't be sure."

Two fighting pairs over, senior Tennouji was correcting the stance of some struggling first years when his ears pricked up at the sound of this conversation. Grinning wolfish-ly he savored the idea of the look on Nanaba's face when he saw that dorm one definately had the Miss Osaka pagent in the bag. _I should make a bet with him... _The first years he had been correcting began picking up their pace. They were more than a little frightened by the murderous aura that was emanating out of their Karate Captin at this time.

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Drenched with sweat, Kadoma and Akira left the dojo beat, nevertheless, Kadoma was grinning from ear to ear.

"A-ki-ra!" he sang. "We've made it over half the week! Two more days and were practically full-fledged members!" Happier than a clam, Kadoma began whistling a bit of one of the tunes that had been played that day over the dojo radio.

As put off as he was by all the hard work he went through, Akira couldn't help smiling at Kadoma. What a happy-natured kid, he thought.

"I'm glad to have you as a friend." He murmured, so that Kadoma couldn't makeout what he'd said.

Kadoma turned around, "What?" he asked confused. They had reached the split in the path between dorm one and dorm three.

"Hey! Do you want to come eat dinner at my dorm tonight?" Akira asked.

Kadoma paused for a second in thought, then sheepishly asked, "Could you help me with homework while I'm over there?" Akira was fourth in the class while Kadoma was twelfth from the bottom. Akira rolled his eyes and said in mock disgust, "If I must..." then his face broke into a smile that mirrored Kadoma's own releived one.

"Come on," he shrugged his shoulder in the direction of the third dorm and the two of them set off towards it.

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Kadoma's eyes bulged with wonder as they walked through the inside of dorm three's common area.

"Why is it so...nice?" There was carpeting on the floors and paintings on the walls. A faint sound of music was coming from a room to the side where a boy was tapping out a sweet melody on a grand piano. Akira hesitated, "Dorm three is primarily an arts dorm, so all the various clubs sort of, 'contribute' to the decoure." Personally Akira didn't care for the airy, romantic style of the dorm, to him it was a little too girlish for his taste.

"Where do the fresh flowers-"

"Flower aranging club"

"Carpets and drapes?"

"Weaver's guild as they like to call themselves"

"Vases and paintings?"

"Art club."

"Nice furniture??"

"That's actually a combined effort of the carpentry and tailoring clubs."

Kadoma exhaled still glancing back and forth like a blind man given occular surgery. Akira was a little irked, but kept patient, because he remembered doing the same thing his first day. He put his hand lightly on Kadoma's shoulder and steered him in the direction of the dining hall. The line wasn't too long and soon they had their food and were sitting in the hand-crafted wood chairs the dinning hall furnished. As they ate Akira noticed Kadoma occasionally glancing up at the sky motiff on the celing, looking slightly mollified. "I wonder what the secccond dorm looks like," Kadoma finally said in a small voice.

Akira chewed his noodles thoughtfully, "I don't know, probably a medium between your dorm and mine I guess, since I heard the dorm doesn't have any particular 'theme' like ours do other than most of their students are pretty bright." Kadoma looked down into his noodles with a severe look of either confusion or concentration. Probably both.

After a moment Akira sighed. "Watcha thinking about?" Kadoma looked up suddenly, eyes wide with bright curiosity, "Well, I was wondering...you do Karate...and you're smart...so..." Akira caught on. "Why did I choose dorm three?" Kadoma noded, quite pleased with himself.

"Well, I'm a singer first and foremost, so I guess that's why." he said in an off-handed way that caught Kadoma's attention.

"What! Why didn't you tell me!"

Akira was taken aback, "When I came to the first day of Karate, I told you I was trying out the whole athleticism thing. What was I supposed to say? 'Hi I'm Akira, and I don't really belong here because I'm a singer at heart?'" A wide grin broke on his face and Kadoma began to laugh.

"I guess that would be kinda silly." Kadoma finnaly conceeded.

"Here- throw your things away and lets go up to my room."

Kadoma smiled cheerfully. "Kay."

Up in Akira's room it was a little less glamorous than the downstairs had been. There were so many furniture pieces and works of art crammed into the tiny space, it made it feel a bit overstuffed. Kadoma and Akira got to work quickly on their homework breaking the studious silence occasionally for Kadoma to ask for help. Kadoma was nearly finished when he reached a particularly difficult problem. Akira glanced up, seeing Kadoma's face screwed up in concentration he made the elective decision that they should take a break. It felt almost like an intangible tension had broke in the air and now cool releif was washing over Kadoma.

"Hey, Kadoma-- what's your roomate like?" Akira asked curiously. The thoughtful expression that Kadoma wore made him look very much like a girl, although Akira would never tell that to his face.

"I dunno, he's sorta hard to describe...He doesn't like to be noticed, and sometimes he says very rude things, and half the time I'm not sure if he's joking or being mean spirited and the other half I can't tell what he's saying 'cause he talks so quietly!" Kadoma had worked himself up, a flush entering his cheeks. Akira laughed. "I know someone _exactly_ like that. It can get pretty annoying untill you get to know him. Then it turns out you just didn't understand what he was talking about all along." Even Kadoma chuckled at this.

"What about you? What's your roomate like?"

Akira grimmaced. "He's very flambouant, personal, and a bit of an alcoholi-" Akira's words were cut off by a loud bang as the door to the room was thrown open. Kadoma nearly jumped out of his skin with shock at the sudden noise.

"TSUKE LIKE SAKE!!!!" Slightly leaning against the doorway was a boy-if you could call him that-with the longest hair Kadoma had ever seen on a man, down to his waist, wearing a small light pink cotton shirt with a purple flower motiff twirling on it and a two-thirds empty sake bottle in his hand. Spotting Akira, Tsuke made a mad, drunken dash to him, nearly tripping over the table before he glomped onto the clearly un-thrilled Akira.

"Get off me you oaf!" Akira shouted to no effect. Tsuke acted like he hadn't heard and said, "No way roomie, _mi amour_..." Then he passed out.

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SOOOOO??? tell me what you think, especially about character development and introduction. Those are my main foucuses now so please review with your comments!!! I really appriciate them!!


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